1. Field
Example embodiments of the present patent application generally relate to a sheet conveying device effectively conveying various types of sheets, an image forming apparatus such as a copier, a facsimile machine, a printer, a printing machine, an inkjet recording device, an image reading device such as a scanner provided with the sheet conveying device, and/or a multifunctional machine combining functions of at least two of the above.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
In order to reduce the overall sizes and dimensions of related-art image forming apparatuses including copiers, such as plain paper copiers or PPC and electrophotographic copiers, facsimile machines, printers such as laser beam printers, printing machines, and inkjet recording devices, the sizes of conveying or feeding units provided therein also tend to be reduced.
For example, a conveying unit is used for conveying a recording medium or a sheet-type recording medium onto which an image is formed (hereinafter, referred to as “sheet”). The sheet is fed from a sheet storing unit or a sheet accommodating unit in which sheets are stacked and is conveyed therefrom to a main body of an image forming apparatus.
Hereinafter, a description is given of a sheet storing unit that stores stack of sheets therein.
There is a technique for handling recording media or sheets. For example, the related-art image forming apparatuses generally accommodate sheets having various sizes. In such a related-art image forming apparatus, recording media or sheets of different sizes (or referred to as a “sheet size”) and different types (or referred to as a “sheet type”) are previously stored in multiple sheet storing units corresponding to respective sizes and types. A sheet may be fed from the sheet storing unit selected manually by a user or automatically by an image forming apparatus. In such a configuration, each sheet storage unit occupies a large space in the related-art image forming apparatus, and therefore, it is particularly necessary to reduce the size of the related-art conveying unit.
One approach is to have a sheet conveying path, provided between the sheet storing unit and a main body of a related-art image forming apparatus, to considerably bend or change its direction midway depending on the relative positions of the sheet storing unit and the main body, so as to reduce the space occupied by the sheet conveying path. Thus, the sheet conveying path is provided with a curved section in order to change the sheet conveying direction in a continuous and smooth manner. The curved section includes a relatively small curvature radius so as to convey a regular-sized recording sheet normally used in the related-art image forming apparatus.
In this technique used in a sheet conveying device of a related-art image forming apparatus, sheet feed trays serving as sheet storing units are arranged beneath a main body of the related-art image forming apparatus. Given numbers of sheets of given sheet sizes and sheet types are stacked in the sheet storing units. In between the sheet storing units and the main body of the related-art image forming apparatus, a sheet conveying unit is provided for extracting a sheet in a substantially horizontal direction from the selected sheet storing unit and feeding the extracted sheet in an upward direction toward the main body of the image forming apparatus disposed above.
A sheet in a sheet storing unit is separated from the stack of sheets by a related-art feed reverse roller (FRR) sheet separation mechanism, and is sent to the main body of the related-art image forming unit through a sheet conveying path provided with a curved section including an upper guide plate and a lower guide plate, each of which serves as a guide member for fixing a curved section. As the sheet is conveyed or travels further on, the sheet is pressed from above by the upper guide plate. The sheet is conveyed by an elastically deformable guide piece positioned at the outlet end of the lower guide plate and reaches a pair of conveying rollers. Hereinafter, the upper guide plate and the lower guide plate are referred to as the “curve fixing guide member.”
However, in the sheet conveying device with the above-described configuration, the following problem arises when conveying a specific type of sheet with high rigidity, such as a cardboard recording paper or an envelope. That is, when the sheet bends and moves along the curved section, such a highly rigid recording paper or special paper receives a much greater resistance compared to a regular sheet such as a plain paper used for copying. This is because the curved section in the sheet conveying path has a small radius. As a result, the highly rigid sheet cannot smoothly move along the sheet conveying path, causing a paper jam or a conveyance failure. Thus, the sheet feeding operation cannot be reliably performed.
In order to facilitate the understanding of the related art and its problems, a description is now given of further details of the above-described conveyance operation.
When the leading edge of the sheet in the sheet conveying direction reaches the curve fixing guide member configured with the upper guide plate and the lower guide plate, the front half of the sheet including the leading edge of the sheet curves or bends in its thickness direction. Accordingly, when a highly rigid sheet is conveyed, a large force resists this bending action, in such a manner that a large resistance obstructs the sheet conveying operation. As a result, the leading edge of the highly rigid sheet may not reach the pair of conveying rollers at the downstream side of the sheet conveying direction, with the result that the sheet may be conveyed only by a pair of rollers on the upstream side thereof. However, when the sheet is bent by the guide member, the conveying force of the pair of rollers alone may be insufficient for conveying the highly rigid sheet counter to the resistance caused by the bending action. As a result, the following conveyance failures may be caused. Specifically, the sheet is caused to move in an oblique manner because the centerline of the highly rigid sheet does not match the centerline of the sheet conveying path, or a paper jam occurs because the highly rigid sheet is caught inside the guide member and stops moving.
Accordingly, the above-described sheet conveying device with the above-described technique has been proposed. In the sheet conveying device, a sheet is sent out from a first conveying member then conveyed to a second conveying member disposed downstream of the first conveying member in the conveying direction and substantially vertically above the first conveying member. A pair of linear guide members is provided between the first conveying member and the second conveying member, and the sheet is conveyed while guided by these linear guide members. In this sheet conveying device, the guide members do not have curved shapes but have linear shapes, and therefore, the conveyance load can be maintained at a low level. That is, the conveyance load can be prevented from rising abruptly so that conveyance failures such as a paper jam or oblique movements can be prevented.
That is, according to the above-described sheet conveying device, the conveyed sheet is not deformed or bent only at one position, but is deformed at two positions, i.e., near the front and rear ends of the linear guide members in the sheet conveying direction. Furthermore, the linear guide members are disposed obliquely at substantially intermediate angles, so that the sheet may bend by the same amount at the above-described two positions. Therefore, the conveyance load may be prevented from rising abruptly. Specifically, the sheet may change its traveling direction by bending at the two positions, namely, when the sheet is passed from the pair of rollers located at the upstream side of the sheet conveying or travel direction to the linear guide member, and when the sheet is passed from the linear guide member to the pair of rollers located at the downstream side of the sheet travel direction. Thus, the sheet bends by smaller extents at these two positions than when the sheet abruptly bends at one position only. Thus, the resistance caused by the bending action of the sheet can be reduced at each of the two positions, thereby preventing the conveyance load from rising abruptly.
Another type of sheet conveying device with a first conveying member and a second conveying member having substantially the same configurations as the above-described sheet conveying device employing the second technique is described as follows.
This sheet conveying device employing the second technique includes a reverse guide member provided at an incline between the first conveying member and the second conveying member. This reverse guide member is configured to move toward the second conveying member.
In this sheet conveying device, when the trailing edge of the sheet contacts the reverse guide member, the reverse guide member shifts its position in a direction substantially according to the trailing edge of the sheet. This shift makes it possible to absorb the shock or impact caused when the trailing edge of the sheet contacts the reverse guide member. Hence, a flipping noise can be reduced.
Yet another type of sheet conveying device with a technique different from the above-described technique has been proposed. Hereinafter, the above-described technique is referred to as a “first technique”, and the following technique is referred to as a “second technique.” This sheet conveying device employing this technique or the second technique includes two or more units for storing sheets, and each of the sheet storing units is provided with a sheet conveying path and a sheet conveying unit. The ends of the sheet conveying paths merge into a common conveying path. Each of the sheet conveying paths has a curved section at the end thereof, at which each sheet conveying path merges with the common conveying path. At least one of the sheet conveying paths provided for a sheet storing unit that stores or accommodates highly rigid sheets has a first curved section with a larger curvature radius than those of the other sheet conveying paths.
Therefore, in this sheet conveying device, highly rigid sheets are caused to bend more moderately compared to plain paper sheets. A highly rigid sheet moves along the sheet conveying path and passes via the first curved section having a large curvature radius, so that the sheet may not bend as much as a plain paper sheet passing via a curved section having a smaller curvature radius. Accordingly, it is possible to reduce the resistance while conveying a highly rigid sheet, so that the sheet can be conveyed to the common conveying path without being suspended or stopped.
Now, a sheet reversing unit employing another technique, or a third technique, is described. The sheet reversing unit is provided in a related-art image forming apparatus. This sheet reversing unit includes a pair of reverse rollers and a reverse conveying path for conveying and guiding a sheet received from the pair of reverse rollers. The reverse conveying path includes a redirection section for changing the direction of conveying a sheet. Rotatable members or rollers are arranged inside the redirection section in a direction orthogonal or perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction, so that a sheet sent into the reverse conveying path can be sent out while abutting the rollers.
According to this sheet reversing unit, when a sheet is sent inside, it is ensured that the portion of the sheet inside the redirection section contacts the rollers, and the rollers are caused to rotate by or following the movement of the sheet in the sheet conveying direction. Thus, compared to a related-art guiding plate, the conveying resistance can be reduced. Specifically, it is possible to eliminate a frictional resistance occurring between a fixed guide member and the moving sheet while changing the conveying direction of the sheet at the redirection section.
However, the sheet conveying device using the first technique merely provides a fixed guide member for guiding a conveyed sheet, and thus does not eliminate the speed difference between the moving conveyed sheet and the fixed guide member. Accordingly, regardless of the shape or position of the guide member, resistance occurs in such a direction as to obstruct the sheet from being conveyed, which generating a conveyance load.
That is, this related-art configuration is insufficient for preventing conveyance failures or paper jams. Although the linear guide member can reduce the conveyance load from rising abruptly, a conveyance load is generated nonetheless. Particularly when conveying a highly rigid sheet, such as a cardboard recording paper or an envelope, conveyance failures and paper jams frequently occur and flipping noises made by the trailing edge of the sheet increase considerably.
Furthermore, as described in reference to the sheet conveying device with the first technique, the reverse guide member can shift or change its position in a direction according to the trailing edge of the sheet contacting the reverse guide member. However, the reverse guide member merely functions as a fixed guide member in terms of changing the direction of the sheet. Accordingly, as with the related-art configuration described above, this related-art technique does not eliminate the relative speed difference between the sheet and the reverse guide member when changing the direction of the sheet and guiding the sheet, thus generating a conveyance load. Particularly when conveying a highly rigid sheet, such as a cardboard recording paper or an envelope, conveyance failures and paper jams frequently occur and flipping noises caused by the trailing edge of the sheet increase considerably.
Furthermore, as described in reference to the sheet conveying device with the second technique, the sheet conveying path with a large curvature radius dedicated to highly rigid sheets makes it possible for sheets traveling therethrough to bend moderately so as to reduce the conveyance resistance applied by the sheet conveying path to the sheet. However, a conveyance load is still generated nonetheless, and therefore, particularly when conveying a highly rigid sheet, such as a cardboard recording paper or an envelope, conveyance failures and paper jams frequently occur.
Furthermore, as described in reference to the sheet reversing unit with this technique or the third technique, movable members such as rollers are provided at given positions inside the redirection section of the sheet conveying path. Therefore, in the process of conveying the sheet, the frictional resistance between the sheet and the guide member can be effectively reduced while the internal rollers are supporting the middle portion of the sheet between the leading edge and the trailing edge. However, there are no measures provided for reducing the conveyance load before and after the sheet is supported by the internal rollers, i.e., when the sheet is in contact with the sheet conveying path outside the redirection section. Furthermore, no particular description is made of movements of the leading edge and the trailing edge of the sheet while being conveyed. Particularly when conveying a highly rigid sheet such as a cardboard recording paper or an envelope, conveyance failures and paper jams frequently occur and flipping noises caused by the trailing edge of the sheet increase considerably.
In light of the foregoing, the inventors of the present patent application have previously proposed to provide a sheet conveying device and an image forming apparatus including a sheet conveying device that can eliminate the drawbacks of the above-described techniques, specifically, by providing a sheet conveying device that is compact and space-saving, that includes a simple configuration achieved at low cost, and that can handle various types of sheets, and an image forming apparatus that includes such sheet conveying device.
However, before putting the above-described configuration to practical use, the following disadvantages still remain.
That is, the above-described sheet conveying device may include a conveying unit including a grip roller and a belt-type conveying unit having upper and lower roller-type pulleys and a conveyor belt. The grip roller and the conveyor belt are disposed facing and pressed against each other. Specifically, the upper roller-type pulley faces the grip roller across the conveyor belt. The lower roller-type pulley faces the upper roller-type pulley.
The belt-type conveying unit has a simple configuration, with the existing upper roller-type pulley to which the lower roller-type pulley and the flat rubber conveyor belt are added. In this configuration, a given axial distance is provided between the upper roller-type pulley and the lower roller-type pulley and the conveyor belt is extended and wound over the upper and lower pulleys with a given rate of extension. Further, it is not necessary to provide a dedicated driving source to the belt-type conveying unit, which makes the configuration simpler.
The above-described sheet conveying device further includes an opening and closing guide that can open and close with respect to a main body of a copier, bounding along a sheet conveying path that is formed by two guide surfaces and connects to a different sheet conveying path formed upstream of this sheet conveying path.
Further, flanges are appropriately provided to respective outer circumferential surfaces and end portions of the upper and lower roller-type pulleys in a longitudinal direction of the upper and lower roller-type pulleys that contact the back side of the conveyor belt. The flanges may be mid-to-high shaped or outer-ring shaped, and be used to regulate the movement of the conveyor belt in a direction in parallel to the surface of the conveyor belt and to prevent the conveyor belt from coming off the roller-type pulleys.
As described above, the belt-type conveying unit includes a significantly simple configuration. Therefore, when a failure such as a paper jam occurs in the sheet conveying paths or when a paper jam is removed during a cleaning or maintenance check while opening the opening and closing guide, the conveyor belt may possibly run on the flanges of the roller-type pulleys or deviate from the flanges, depending on the direction from which an external force is applied to tear loose the jammed paper from the copier. For example, when an external force is applied in a sheet width, or horizontal, direction, the conveyor belt may run on or deviate from the flanges.
Subsequently, a user may close the opening and closing guide and start copying without noticing that the conveyor belt is almost off or has already come off the upper and/or lower roller-type pulleys. In this case, since the upper roller-type pulley is held against the grip roller serving as a drive roller via the conveyor belt, when the grip roller rotates to feed a sheet, the conveyor belt can be returned to the proper position on the upper roller-type pulley. However, since the lower pulley disposed upstream of the upper pulley does not additionally include any specific function other than the above-described belt deviation prevention, the above-described recovery operation may not be conducted. This configuration of the lower pulley is highly likely to cause a sequential paper jam due to the conveyor belt coming loose even after a paper jam has been properly removed. As a result, this failure may damage sheets and/or the conveyor belt.
Through tests of actual use conducted on the reliability and durability of sheet feeding and conveying operations, it is clear that a belt may come off under the above-described conditions but not come off during regular copying. Moreover, it is obvious that the above-described disadvantage also accompanies an image forming apparatus not equipped with the above-described opening and closing guide.
To eliminate the above-described disadvantage, a flange having a height greater than the thickness of the conveyor belt may be provided. Under such a configuration, however, a leading edge of a sheet collides with or abuts against a projecting part of the flange on the upper pulley disposed downstream of the lower pulley. This may damage the sheet and/or prevent the leading edge of the sheet from gripping on the conveying surface of the conveyor belt.
Accordingly, in order to stably convey a sheet, the need remains to reduce or prevent the belt from deviating or coming loose even when an external force is applied to the belt in a wrong direction while clearing a paper jam, for example.